


Of Debates and Chickenshit Boys

by ProfessionalPenThief



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: B99 Summer 2019 Fic Exchange, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, High School AU, b99 fandom events
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-30 11:13:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20096335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProfessionalPenThief/pseuds/ProfessionalPenThief
Summary: Amy's happily dull life turns upside down when a mystery admirer's love for her goes viral in her high school. As she navigates the new uncharted territories of being in the public eye, she finds love does defy all expectations.





	Of Debates and Chickenshit Boys

**Author's Note:**

> Written as a part of the Brooklyn Nine Nine Summer 2019 Fic Exchange

It all started with a tweet; a blurred, badly lit image of the inside of a bathroom stall. In large, sprawling, messy but still aesthetically pleasing handwriting, with the Ts not crossed and the Is not dotted - 'Amy Santiago I kinda wish something could happen between us, romantic stylez'. It was posted by Gina Linetti on her infamous twitter, which meant that everyone saw it almost immediately.

When the picture was posted, Amy was in the middle of Debate, with her phone carefully tucked away in the bottom of her bag.

"And so, the English Canon justifiably serves its functionality even in the modern-day as the recording and reflection of history. Studied correctly and in the appropriate context, it informs us of the value of Literature and ultimately, of the modern culture," said Amy, finishing up her speech. The last few words tumbled out as the timer ran out.

"Mr Peralta, your rebuttal,' said Mr Devon, the teacher supervising the debate club.

Jake smirked at Amy. She responded with a flash of her eye and he cleared his throat.

"A lot of big words, Ames. I"m sure you picked them during your vigorous reading of the canon. Am I right or am I right?" he said, winking at the audience, which consisted of a bunch of other students. "And yet," he continued, "How much did you score in AP History?"

Few of the students chuckled as Amy turned to the teacher, who immediately chastised Jake and docked off a point.

"Cool cool cool cool I'll just stick to my points, shall I? The English Canon needs a major update because it doesn't actually justificiably serve its - whatever Santiago said. It reflects the reality about as much as One Tree Hill reflects the high school experience," he concluded with a dramatic bow.

Amy smirked, trying to control the grin breaking out on her face. She knew she had it in the bag.

Once the bell rang, Amy shuffled through her fellow students to reach Jake.

"Good game," he said with a grin.

"Of course it was, I won. What's the score now? 7 - 1, Santiago in the lead?" mused Amy.

Jake rolled his eyes, pulling out his phone from his bag as he answered, "Smug isn't a good look on you."

"You could always try and beat me. Try being the keyword, of course."

"You're a monster."

"... Except, I don't think you know how to debate. You just stand there and take shots at me," said Amy.

Jake didn't reply, looking at his phone.

"No comeback? Just like you didn't have during the --"

"Excuse me," muttered Jake, pushing past her and practically sprinting out the door.

Any frowned and huffed; She really hated that boy. No one got under her skin worse than he did.

As she made her way to the cafeteria, she was cornered by her best (and only) friend.

"Did you see?" Kylie asked eagerly.

Amy cocked her head at an angle, the inquiry evident in her gesture.

Kylie thrust her phone at Amy, who immediately blushed a deep red.

"Who do you think it is? Claire McKenzie commented that it might be Luke Witton."

"Claire McKenzie doesn't even know who I am," answered Amy. She glanced around her in the hallway, suddenly overcome with a horrifying feeling that everybody was looking at her.

"There are quite a few comments," insisted Kylie.

"Probably people wondering who I am," replied Amy.

"Aren't you curious as to who it is?" asked Kylie. Amy shrugged dismissively, not wanting to voice her worst fears. Kylie frowned but changed the topic.

There were some hushed whispers and obvious glances in her direction as they walked into the cafeteria. 'Real subtle, guys,' Amy wanted to scream at them.

She didn't quite get the hype behind the tweet. They were in high school, for fuck's sake. All people did was talk about making out and sex and parties, and making out at parties and sex at parties - This didn't deserve this kind of attention. And she reckoned it wouldn't if it weren't Gina's twitter.

@Linetti2020 was a space that Gina had created with the promise of capturing every moment of high school. The promise always felt more like a threat to Amy, who couldn't wait to leave high school behind.

By the next day, the situation had escalated even worse. Someone had cropped out an old yearbook photo, added a bunch of ugly graphics and made a weird video clip of the thing. And from there on, it took a life of its own.

"I'm the new school meme," groaned Amy, her voice muffled as she hid her face in her hands. She was locked in the bathroom stall, with Kylie standing guard outside.

"It's not too bad," Kylie assured her. "They're mostly making fun of whoever wrote that, not you."

Amy let out a strangled noise, unable to reply coherently.

"I mean, it's worse for the poor bastard; having his feelings casually mocked by the whole school."

"Oh yeah, real tragic, dealing with all the stares and laughs and taunts," retorted Amy, rolling her eyes.

Neither of them said anything for a moment and then -

"What kind of an idiot scrawls this shit in the bathroom? Get a diary, like the rest of us, dick wad."

Kylie laughed out loud and after a moment, Amy joined her. Still giggling, Kylie knocked on the stall door and Amy opened the door, her face flushed. They glanced at each other and broke out into another round of giggles.

"Okay okay, cool cool. I think I'm -- Yeah, I'm ready to go to class."

Kylie smiled supportively and squeezed her hand. And as they stepped out the door -

"Amy, this is the first time since your weird cousin in third grade that a boy has liked you," pointed out Kylie.

Amy paused for a moment, contemplating Kylie's words and then smiled softly, nodding.

Still, any lingering feelings of warmth she had dissipated quickly when she arrived at her next class and spotted Jake. Reluctantly, she slid into her seat next to him. Damn Mrs Henshaw. Damn damn damn. Damn this stupid seating arrangement. Two years. She had sat next to him for two years and never did she dread it more.

He didn't say a word. Amy had met Jake in freshman year, during Debate. He had been forced to join. It was to salvage his lousy academic career. Four months as a freshman and his academic career had already been deemed lousy. Amy had tried not to judge him. She had, but she hid it well... for a hot minute. She offered to show him around the debate club; excited at sharing her love with someone. He had given her a look that made her want to scream. And their relationship had taken a south turn even before it began.

After that, he was suddenly everywhere. Physics and Advance History and P.E; and four years later, he even continued with debate. Jake Peralta was her greatest nemesis.

And in all this time she had known him, Jake Peralta never said nothing.

She turned in his direction, prepared to chew him out. 'Why aren't you teasing me?' she wanted to ask him. She spotted him glancing at her from the corner of his eye. Their eyes briefly held contact and then he looked away. She frowned. 'What the fuck?'

Before she could say anything, Mrs Henshaw entered and the class settled down. Once the class was over, he bolted out the door.

'Great,' Amy mused. 'Add that to the list of fucking weird shit that's become my life.'

The next couple of days passed quickly, with the same sort of buzz around her but without any incident. In fact, by the time Friday rolled around, she was confident that people were starting to move on. She even told Kylie as much. It was her fault; she jinxed it.

After the last class on Friday, she was making her way to her locker when she was forced to a halt. Rick Hardy was on his knees in front of her, singing an awful rendition of Tonight's the Night, by Rod Stewart.

Amy turned a horrifying shade of red. The embarrassment combined with barely contained anger. She tried to move around him, to blink back the tears threatening to form in her eyes. He held her by the hand, rooting her in her spot.

"Let me go!"

She didn't care what Kylie said; they were making fun of her. Before she could react further, a fist emerged from nowhere and connected directly with Rick Hardy's nose.

Rick howled in pain. There was blood on the floor, red and bright and wet. Someone was screaming. And it all meant one thing -

Detention.

They had been left alone in the room. She wondered if they were supposed to be supervised but she couldn't be sure. She had never been in this position before. Her first detention.

She glanced at Jake, who had an ice pack on his knuckles. She smiled weakly.

"I can fight my own battles, you know," she said.

"I know."

"Thank you."

"Hardy's a dick. It was for my pleasure as much as anyone's."

"Thank you, anyway."

Jake nodded and the two lapsed into silence. Amy glanced back at the door; still no sign of a teacher and then got up. She dropped into a seat next to him.

"Does it hurt too bad?" she asked, nodding at his hand.

"This?" Jake flexed his hand, putting on a show of bravado. "Nah. I'm --" His face contorted in pain. "Ow ow ow fuck."

"That bad, huh?"

"Uh-huh," said Jake, grimacing.

"Sorry," said Amy.

"It's not your fault," said Jake fiercely. "I'm sorry," he added after a pause.

She frowned. Why was he sorry? Unless...

"I know Gina is your friend but this isn't on you. It's not your fault," she insisted. Today really was a day of firsts.

"Let's agree that every other asshole in this dump hole is at fault," said Jake with a grin.

"Everyone but us," Amy repeated after him, her grin matching his own.

"I can't wait to graduate," muttered Jake.

"104 days left," answered Amy instantly.

Jake looked at her, eyebrows raised. "I know you're smart but I refuse to believe you calculated that right now."

Amy laughed and shook her head. "I can't wait to get out either."

"What? You?" Jake stared at her in disbelief. "You're so good at school. Have you ever got a grade below A?"

"Once, but that's not the point."

"Right. AP History. I remember that."

"You do?"

"You were really upset. I was worried," said Jake. His face was flushed. He rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged casually.

"Oh."

"So, what's your sordid secret?"

"Sordid? Really?"

"Thanks to the English Canon," he answered with a smirk.

"Touche." She paused, carefully considering her words. "I don't know if you know this, but being great at academics in high school isn't the road to popularity."

"Never pegged you for a popular wannabe," said Jake.

"I don't wanna be... like Gina, or whatever. But I would like to have friends. Have someone like me without it being the funniest joke in the school," answered Amy, with a shrug.

She felt her heart pound as she waited for him to say something. What was happening to her? This is what she deserved for unloading her worst fears onto a random passerby. Fuck, Jake wasn't even a random passerby. He was her nemesis. Right?

"Makes sense," said Jake. "Is that why you're so good at academics?"

She stared at him. She felt the morning's breakfast coming up in her stomach. No one had asked her that. She didn't even know it was a question that merited being asked. She felt as though someone was looking at her, and right at her.

"Yeah," she answered, her voice a little shaky. "Compulsive need to prove myself."

He shook his head. "You're straight up cray cray, Santiago. You? You don't need to prove shit to anyone. You're incredible; the world should prove itself to you!"

She rolled her eyes but a smile broke out on her face nonetheless.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

"I'm offended! I'm always nice!"

"This is the most civil conversation we have had in four years of high school."

"Debate club doesn't count."

"Of course it does!"

"I'm just teasing. Trying to get under your skin, break your defences. It's all strategic, really."

"Maybe if you prepared for the debates, you wouldn't have to resort to personal attacks."

Jake shrugged. "Too much effort."

"Then why not leave?"

Jake looked at her, clearly caught off guard. He smiled and shrugged.

"That's a great question."

"And you have no rebuttal."

"None whatsoever."

Amy didn't know what to say. She felt that she was missing something; that there was another conversation happening that she wasn't privy too.

What a bizarre day.

By the time Monday rolled around, things that school had gotten even weirder. According to the school rumor mill, she was caught in a love triangle - square (Their geometry wasn't the greatest). The mystery boy, Rick Hardy and Jake Peralta were fighting over her. She was one misstep away from slipping into a Bachelorette episode.

Weirder still, in physics Jake requested to follow her Instagram. Something had changed between them that day. She accepted it.

She had spent the entire weekend with Kylie, poring over the image and the replies and trying to figure out who it could be. She hadn't wanted to, but Kylie convinced her that it might just be the closure they all needed. It hadn't been successful, but still, she had tried.

Days passed and the mystery admirer remained a mystery. Rick Hardy's porn stash had been exposed (thanks @Linetti2020) and life had as good as gone back to normal. Except... she was friends with Jake now.

They texted frequently. Sometimes they talked, sometimes they exchanged memes. He asked her odd questions at odd hours (Who decided to call small candy as fun-sized? There's nothing fun about less candy!) and she answered with sincerity. She was the only one who did, he later told her. She talked about her favorite books and he promised to get a library card. Talking to him turned out to be just as easy as arguing had been all these years.

"Jake and Amy, go looking for ice cream. Jake and Amy, ice cream ice cream ice cream."

Amy picked up her phone as it pinged. There was a text from Jake, and she could practically hear his sing-song voice.

"Ice cream, all I ever wanted. Jake and Amy, all I ever wanted." She hit send.

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck.

"Jake and Amy, all they*** ever wanted." She typed, pounding at her phone rushing to hit send before he texted back. God, that was a stupidly embarrassing typo. Fuck.

"5? At Shaws?"

She sighed in relief as he breezed past her slip up.

He was already waiting for her when she reached Shaws. He had a corner booth, a couple of books and some index cards spread out against the table.

"You're here early."

"What can I say? Punctuation is my middle name."

"Do you mean punctual?"

"That too."

Amy glanced at the books and instinctively reached for one.

"You're doing homework?"

He quickly closed the books. "No..."

She quirked an eyebrow and he gave in.

"Fine. Yes. But you can't tell anyone."

"I can't?"

"I have to maintain my cool cred."

"Truly cool people don't care about anything, including their cool cred."

Jake inhaled sharply and stared at her.

"Fuck."

She looked on, amused as he processed her words.

"You're right. Of course! Of course, you're right. I'm buying you ice cream."

As they worked through their scoops, he explained that he was avoiding his parents.

"Oh. Didn't your dad... I mean, everyone heard about the... I thought your parents were divorced."

"Yep. Sophomore year. But he's back now and wants another chance."

"Oh."

"You can say more than 'Oh'."

"He's your dad."

"He's a shithead."

"So you don't want him back?'

"I don't know. A bit of both. I am not sure what I -- Shit!"

He ducked underneath the table. Amy swiveled in her seat to see Gina had just walked in through the door hand in hand with a tall, dark-haired girl.

Amy ducked, joining Jake underneath the table.

"If she sees us, the entire school will know we have been hanging out," he explained.

"She's a Twitter addict."

"Worse still, she's pissed at me."

"So no way you can use your friend card?"

"Nope."

"Why? What did you do?"

"Why do assume it's my fault?"

"Fine. Whose fault was it?"

"Mine," Jake conceded. Amy smirked at him.

"Smug isn't a good look on you. And 'sides, I... she's mad cause I didn't do anything."

Amy gave him a look that said 'Explain'.

"There's this thing she's pushing me to do and I'm too chickenshit."

"Oh."

Jake peeked up from the table and disappeared underneath it again.

"I think they're gone."

Amy repeated his actions.

"I think so too."

"We can probably get up now."

"Yeah."

Neither of them moved.

"Can I help?"

"What?"

"With the thing Gina wants --"

Jake cut her off, leaning forward, really close and then at the last possible moment, he seemed to come to his senses and pull away. He was still closer to her than he had started out. Amy was momentarily confused. She swallowed deeply and glanced at his lips. It was impossible not to.

That must have been the permission he was looking for because the next thing she knew, he had closed the gap between them. It was an awkward, hesitant first kiss.

Amy jumped in surprise, banging her head against the table.

"What are -- what?"

They emerged from the table, Amy rubbing the top of her head. 

"Are you okay? I'm gonna get ice."

He was gone as she rested her head on the table. His debate notes were in front of her. She reached out for them as she waited for him.

She read through his opening statement. The words didn't hold any coherent meaning for her throbbing skull. But that handwriting...

"Here's an ice pack," he said.

She turned to him. He simply had to glance between her face and the index cards still in her hand to put two and two together.

"I can explain."

"I know you liked to push my buttons, but I never thought you were cruel."

"I wasn't being cruel."

"No?"

"I was being honest."

Amy didn't answer. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know if she trusted him; didn't know what to do with the feeling that had grown in the pit of her stomach and refused to leave since he had kissed her. All she knew was that the tears in her eyes were because of the banging of her head and no other reason. None at all. 

He pushed forward. "I didn't vandalize school property. Gina did that. I... That was private and Gina found out... in her twisted way, she was trying to help me."

"Because you're too chickenshit."

He nodded sheepishly, his head hanging.

Oh.

"And you kinda wish something would happen between us, romantic stylez."

Jake looked up, surprised at the lightness in her tone.

She didn't know what she was doing till she had her hands around his neck, pulling him in closer and closer till their lips were pressed together. Till they were intertwined - - lips and lives and hearts - and that's all that mattered.


End file.
